The invention relates to an automatic machine of compact dimensions for emptying and reloading film from and into X-ray cassettes.
The prior art embraces a variety of automatic units serving to empty X-ray cassettes of exposed film and reload them with new.
Such units consist substantially in a first station for admission and ejection of the cassette, and a second station, shielded from the light, at which the exposed film is emptied from the cassette and a new sheet of film inserted.
Units of the type in question are provided with a number of magazines, in most cases located above the second station, each one of which contains a given quantity of new film in the various sizes conventionally adopted.
The unit will also incorporate means by which to identify the size of each cassette slotted into the first station, or in effect, given that each size of cassette carries a corresponding size of film, means by which to identify the size of the exposed film that is to be replaced.
Thus, it remains for the operator simply to slot an exposed cassette into the machine, and then extract it reloaded with a new film of the same size. The unit thus generally described will be connected to a developer, in such a way that the exposed film emptied from each cassette can be transferred and processed without further intervention on the part of the operator.
It will be clear enough that equipment of the type in question is complex, bulky and costly, and in practice, suitable only for permanent installation in large hospitals or institutions, where the quantity of X-rays effected is such as to justify commissioning.
Another negative factor with these machines is that the conventional link-up with a developer increases the overall bulk of the equipment still further; accordingly, with the incorporation of numerous, delicate components which detect the size of the exposed film and monitor the machine as a whole for correct operation, it is practically impossible for such equipment to be rendered mobile. By contrast, a genuine requirement exists for the installation of this kind of equipment in mobile services, or at local health centers (where space generally will be at a premium), to the end of providing a complete, immediate X-ray facility and avoiding the despatch of cassettes to a large laboratory for developing. Such would be the ideal situation, for example, in the case of gynaecology clinics, where specialists almost invariably have to send their patients to large hospitals for breast X rays due to the lack of room on their own premises for the installation of equipment to empty and reload cassettes. Similarly, benefits could be derived at tourist and holiday resorts, where the permanent installation of a cassette-loading facility is totally ruled out by seasonal considerations.
Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to provide an automatic machine for emptying X-ray cassettes of exposed film and reloading them with new film of the same size, which will be capable of operating both with and independently of developing equipment, and embodied with dimensions such as to permit of installation, permanently or otherwise, in smaller health centers such as private sector medical clinics.
A further object of the invention is to provide an automatic machine of compact dimensions and solid construction, suitable for use in mobile health services.
Another object of the invention is to provide an automatic machine of compact dimensions that will empty and reload different sizes of film.